Nutrition to Help Your Liver

Take a moment to try and imagine a giant processing plant inside of your body.

One that is capable of handling approximately 30% of the blood flowing through your veins and arteries every minute.

This processing plant is where several different chemical reactions take place, to remove toxins that could be harmful to your body and to store any essential nutrients that are present in your blood.

This important piece of equipment has a name and you would refer to it as your liver.

Every single time that you eat, your liver is responsible when it comes to making sure that your actual body is fed in the right way and with the right things.

If you eat an unhealthy diet or make rather specific lifestyle choices (like smoking, drinking alcohol regularly, or taking either recreational or prescription drugs), your liver could become damaged over time.

Any damage would cause your processing plant to function inefficiently, leaving it incapable of removing all the toxins that go through it.

Therefore, it is so important to cleanse your liver while also avoiding the toxins that could damage your liver.

It is quite difficult to say just how much “hard work” your own liver can cope with because everyone is different.

If your liver is abused on a regular basis, then it will simply cease to work the way that it once did as time passes.

The same could also be said if you developed an illness that required the intake of a large number of drugs on a regular basis as part of a way of treating the illness, something that would be out of your control.

Liver Health

You can usually tell when the overall functionality of your own liver, or processing plant, is beginning to decline because your health will also decline in a number of different ways.

Your liver is responsible for cleansing your body of toxins, but it also deals with many other tasks.

For example, your liver manages the release of energy inside of your body.

You will probably already know that your energy comes from the carbohydrates that you consume.

These carbohydrates are converted into glucose within your body.

Glucose & Your Liver

Did you know that when glucose enters your bloodstream it goes straight to your liver?

Your liver can then store any excess glucose as glycogen, a type of energy storage.

The glycogen is then ready to act as a source of energy between your meals, as well as during periods of either exercise or fasting.

It is also worth noting that your liver is also responsible for producing a type of bile that plays a vital role when it comes to the digestion of fat inside of the human body.

It aids the overall absorption of both fat and fat-soluble vitamins.

This bile is stored in your gallbladder, where it can be quickly emptied into your intestines on an as and when needed basis.

This is not to mention the way in which all our livers can process the proteins that we need in order to maintain a healthy body.

The proteins themselves are broken down by the amino acids that can be found inside of our intestines, and they then enter the bloodstream and approach the liver just like glucose does.

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Proteins & Your Liver

Why do proteins have to go through our biological processing plants?

The fact of the matter is that it would be dangerous for us if the proteins were not processed in our livers.

As soon as the proteins reach our liver the cells that are present there immediately begin to work and remove all of the pre-existing nitrogen that can be found inside of the proteins, a substance that is highly toxic and dangerous.

Due to the sheer levels of toxicity, our livers have to work fast in order to convert all of the nitrogen that is present into urea, a substance that can be excreted and completely eliminated from our bodies.

With all of this going on inside of us every minute of the day, it is easy to see just how much hard work our livers do.

All of this means that our livers are responsible for keeping us healthy, energetic and safe from toxins that would otherwise wreak havoc inside of our bodies.

There are actually a lot of things that we can do to help cleanse the liver, including eating certain liver-friendly foods and herbs, but you still have to be careful that you do not abuse toxins.

Liver-Friendly Foods

Maintaining a balanced diet and ensuring that your nutrition is something that you focus on can be an essential part of cleansing the liver, especially if you have a pre-existing liver condition.

The best thing that you can do to make sure that your liver is working at an optimal level involves limiting your intake of unhealthy foods and replacing them with a number of liver-friendly foods.

Here are some of our personal favourites:

Green Leafy Vegetables

When it comes to helping your liver function in the most efficient way that it can, there is no better option than consuming green leafy vegetables.

We all know that leafy greens are healthy given that they are packed to the literal brim with vitamins A, C, and K, but did you know that your liver appreciates them just as much as the rest of your body does?

They work wonders, regardless of whether you would consider green leafy vegetables to be kale, arugula, spinach or collards.

You simply have to choose one that you like to eat.

The way in which green leafy vegetables and the liver is quite unique because it actually comes down to the amount of chlorophyll that the leaves contain.

Chlorophyll is a substance that can help to purify the blood that your liver has to process.

Leafy greens can also help to neutralise some of the harmful environmental toxins that your liver would otherwise have to try and deal with, like pesticides and chemicals.

The health kick of recent years has also made it a popular addition to the shopping lists of a large number of people.

It has actually been used as a type of medicine for approximately four millennia, being the literal strongman of both Ayurveda and Chinese medicine thanks to the strong anti-inflammatory properties that it contains.

This is not an outdated thought as modern medical studies have also proven that it can cure and help with a number of different illnesses.

It should not come as a surprise that turmeric can also help the liver.

It does this by flushing out a large number of the normal toxins that build up in our bodies over time, meaning that our livers have to do a little bit less work.

Turmeric can also prevent fat from accumulating in the liver, a problem that could lead to conditions that are difficult to manage, like fatty liver and cirrhosis.

Garlic is a type of food that most people will not think of when they initially think of foods that can benefit their health, putting it in the same line-up as salt and pepper.

Before you do that, you should know that garlic actually contains sulphur compounds that are capable of activating liver enzymes.

This is something that can help with the overall digestive process in your body and it can also help to flush toxins out of your body.

But, garlic actually has another trick hiding somewhere. It contains a large amount of allicin and selenium, nutrients that can quite literally nourish and cleanse your entire body and the blood that flows through it.

Allicin works because it is capable of warding off any invaders that might be attacking your immune system, and selenium works because it is a type of naturally detoxifying mineral.

This makes them a perfect pair because they help to minimise the amount of work that your liver needs to do. It is worth noting that whole garlic cloves work much better than any other alternatives if you are looking for foods that are liver-friendly.

Any fruits that contain high levels of vitamin C are fantastic because they can help to flush environmental toxins from the body.

Lemons in particular can also help to lower the amount of cholesterol that is present in the liver, but most people like to avoid the bitterness of lemons.

A great way to get around this is by adding a glass of lemon water to your morning routine, something that will eventually become a natural part of your day that you do not have to think about.

But, that only scratches the surface of what lemons can do.

They actually aid the digestion process by helping to break down any food that is present in the stomach.

This occurs because lemons are incredibly acidic and because they stimulate the stomach in a way that leads to the production of more digestive fluids. In this scenario, your liver has to work less because your stomach is doing more. A win-win situation.

Chances are, you already know just how much eating broccoli can be beneficial for your body.

It contains a high level of both antioxidants and chlorophyll, while also being high in fibre.

The fact that broccoli contains chlorophyll is an important quality when it comes to hunting for liver-friendly foods.

This is because chlorophyll can help to cleanse the blood inside of our bodies and given that our liver is essentially a giant blood filtration system, this means that our liver has to do a lot less work.

But, broccoli also contains something known as glucosinolates, a natural component that exists in a number of different plants.

These can help us and our bodies because they prompt the liver to produce more enzymes, aiding the liver by removing dangerous toxins while also helping our body digest food.

Generally speaking, nuts are high in both nutrients and fats, making them a good option for occasional snacking, but you should still try not to overindulge in them.

Walnuts in particular also contain a high level of beneficial plant compounds.

The antioxidants inside of walnuts are essential for people who have pre-existing liver conditions, because they can help to neutralise the free radicals that could otherwise cause mayhem among the cells in the liver.

One of the most dangerous concerns that arise when it comes to common liver problems is a condition known as fatty liver disease.

But, nuts could be the answer to that too.

An observational study was done on a total of 106 people with a type of fatty liver disease that was not related to alcohol consumption.

The study found that people who consumed nuts had higher levels of liver enzymes, meaning that their livers were capable of filtering more toxins.

Colourful vegetables are always a little bit eye catching, and we all know that one of the easiest ways to make sure that we are eating healthily is to try to make sure that we eat ‘all of the colours of the rainbow’, or so to speak.

When you think about colourful vegetables, beets and carrots are vegetables that should appear pretty high on the list.

Beets in particular are known to be a superfood for your entire body as a whole, as well as your liver.

Have you ever noticed that beets are similar in colour to the very liquid that your liver must deal with regularly, your blood?

It is rather funny that they are because beets are incredibly good at removing the toxins that can be found in your blood.

This helps your liver and the way that it functions because it means that your liver has a lot less work to do.

Eating carrots regularly has a similar effect because carrots contain a high level of something known as glutathione, a type of strong antioxidant.

The antioxidant itself is really good at cleansing and detoxifying the liver, so again, consuming carrots means that the liver has much less work to do.

Cabbage is a really healthy type of cruciferous vegetable, just like broccoli.

It is considered to be a liver-friendly food because it contains a high concentration of phytonutrients, chemical compounds that are amazing when it comes to helping the liver flush dangerous toxins out of the blood.

Phytonutrients have been proven to help with the removal of harmful substances, including pesticides, chemicals, prescription and non-prescription drugs, metals that have accumulated over time and even carcinogens.

Cabbage is also considered to be a healthy option because it can lower the amount of cholesterol that is present in our bodies.

Studies have also been done that have proven that the intake of cabbage decreases the risk of a handful of different cardiovascular diseases.

This all explains why cabbage is commonly considered to be one of the healthiest vegetables that we can eat.

Other important cruciferous vegetables that act in a similar way when ingested include cauliflower and daikon.

If you are looking to keep your liver functioning in a way that keeps your body healthy, asparagus is one of the vegetables that you might want to consider integrating into your diet.

One of the reasons for this is because asparagus has diuretic qualities, meaning that it can be used to help flush toxins out of your body, lessening the workload of your liver and allowing your liver, kidneys and digestive system to function well as a whole.

Asparagus is also known to increase the levels of ADH and ALDH that are present in your liver, both of which are types of enzymes that are responsible for metabolising ethanol.

This means that asparagus could be the key to getting rid of a hangover, and it can offer your liver a little bit of protection from the toxic components of alcohol.

Top Herbs for a Liver Cleanse

We understand that sometimes it can be difficult to add new types of food into your daily routine, especially if you are used to eating a specific set of meals.

One of the things that you can do if you are a picky eater involves adding different herbs to your current diet because herbs can be easily disguised among other things.

Here are some of our favourite liver-friendly herbs:

Chicory Root

You might recognise the chicory root as a type of coffee substitute.

The roots of the plant are usually baked, roasted and ground.

This type of substitute is frequently used during times of economic crisis, and some businesses also add chicory root to stouts outside of these times, giving their stouts a coffee-like flavour.

But, as a liver-friendly food chicory roots are quite unique and they are certainly important to look at if we are thinking about the health of the liver.

All the way back in the second-century, a physician called Galen stated that the chicory root was a “friend of the liver”, and contemporary research has since proven that it could increase the flow of bile within the body.

Chanca Piedra

Unless you pay close attention to health trends, you probably haven’t heard of chanca piedra, a plant from the depths of the Amazon rainforest.

The plant itself can be used to promote liver health and traditional Chinese medicine can be seen to cite that it can do so.

A study that was done in the Department of Chemistry at Bose Institute found that a protein in the plant has the ability to protect liver tissues against oxidative stress, something that will more than likely increase antioxidant defences within the body.

A milk thistle is a type of herb that grows naturally, but milk thistle seeds are the part of the herb that contains the highest concentrations of silymarin, an active compound that reduces oxidative damage within the body. It can also help to stop toxins binding to the liver, making the job that the liver has to do easier.

Milk thistle seeds can be used for maintaining liver health and dealing with pre-existing conditions that are not related to alcohol.

They have been used for more than two millennia and the healing properties were originally found in 40 A.D by a botanist and physician called Dioscorides.

Milk thistle seeds have the ability to draw toxins out of the body, acting almost like a filter.

They have also been shown to decrease and reverse liver damage from a range of different environmental causes, including prescription medications and pollution.

Dandelion Root

When you hear the word dandelion you are probably inclined to imagine a large number of the pesky weeds that appear around your garden and drive you insane, but they actually have a beneficial side too.

They are considered to be a useful type of medicinal herb, especially if you have a pre-existing liver condition.

So you might want to think twice before thinking about them as weeds. In reality, dandelions are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Herbalists let no part of the dandelion go to waste because of these.

They are also known to help remove toxins from the liver and increase bile production.

The roots in particular have a mild laxative effect that can improve digestion, lessening the load on the liver.

A lot of people believe that the roots can help remove toxins that are specifically associated with prescription drugs.

Borotutu Bark

At the forefront of traditional African medicine, we can find the bark of a tree called the borotutu tree.

In the past, this bark has been used to make a type of tea that has then been used to manage ailments that are related to liver function.

Modern science has taught us that the bark of the borotutu tree can help restore normal function to both the liver and the gallbladder.

Borotutu bark contains a high level of phytonutrients that promote the power of antioxidants within the body, enabling them to sniff out and fight any free radicals that could be roaming around.

This in turn lessens oxidative stress, which then helps the body remove toxins.

This works best with environmental toxins, like pollution, chemicals and prescription medications.

Greater celandine is one of the most unique herbs on our list because it is actually a type of botanical extract.

It comes from a plant that is a member of the poppy family, and it has been proven to help treat gastrointestinal issues

. It has also been clinically linked to the treatment of several instances of liver injury, but more clinical trials need to be done.

It is worth noting that the medicinal effect of greater celandine can be unpredictable because of the quality of the herb itself.

Due to this, you should make sure that you are only buying greater celandine from reputable sources.

Peppermint

You might associate peppermint, a common perennial herb, with the taste of toothpaste and minty treats, or the sensation of a refreshing shower gel.

Peppermint leaves actually have a long history of therapeutic effects, and they have been used as a digestive aid for centuries.

A healthy digestive system can be linked to a healthy liver because it means that the liver has a little bit less work to do.

Eating peppermint leaves, or drinking peppermint tea, also promotes the flow of bile within the body.

Bile is something that actively encourages normal cholesterol levels, something that reduces the workload that the liver has to cope with.

Studies that have been done on animals have also proven that peppermint leaves can protect the liver against certain toxins.

Organic Yellow Dock Root

Traditionally thought of as a type of blood purifier, it is easy to see how organic yellow dock root can aid the liver.

Anything that can remove some of the toxins from our bloodstream can help the liver because it lessens the workload that the liver has to cope with.

Consuming organic yellow dock root can also help to stimulate a bowel movement thanks to a small laxative effect that the root has, something that can help remove any toxic waste that may have accumulated over time.

Green Tea

Green tea is a popular beverage around the world, and its popularity is increasing as more and more people turn towards living healthier.

Green tea can offer us a range of different health benefits and a lot of clinical research has been done to show the positive effects that drinking green tea, or taking green tea supplements, can have on the body.

If we take a close look at green tea, then we can see that it is naturally full of antioxidants.

These are important because they help to protect the body from dangerous free radicals while also detoxifying the body.

This means that they can remove harmful environmental toxins, a process that really helps the liver.

Green tea can also help with improving cardiovascular health and cognitive function, among other things!

7-Day Liver Cleansing Meal Plan

Planning your meals around food types that you might not be familiar with using can be challenging.

To make it a little bit easier, here is our 7-Day Liver-Friendly plan:

Monday:

Breakfast: Blueberry and Avocado Muffins with Coffee or Green Tea. - Who says that breakfasts have to be boring? You already know that avocados are a great liver-friendly food, but blueberries are also famed for their antioxidants.

Lunch: Carrot and Lentil Soup

Dinner: Broccoli, Salmon and a Mixed Salad

Snack: Homemade Hummus with Carrots and Turmeric

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Cinnamon Fruit Porridge with Coffee or Green Tea

Lunch: Homemade Vegetable Soup - Making some homemade vegetable soup is a great way of sneaking some fun vegetables and some leafy green vegetables into your diet.

Dinner: Kale and Tomato Frittata with Vegetables

Snack: Apple Sticks/Carrot Sticks

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Guacamole on Toast with Coffee or Green Tea

Lunch: Quinoa, Vegetables and Tuna - With so many liver-friendly vegetables to choose from, you can’t go wrong with this meal. The quinoa is also your alternative grain. To put a spin on this dish, try having it with some roasted vegetables instead of boiled ones.

Dinner: Chicken with a Beet, Carrot and Pomegranate Salad

Snack: Trail Mix with Walnuts

Thursday:

Breakfast: Porridge with Banana, Mango and Blueberries with Water

Lunch: Roasted Pumpkin and Carrot Soup - Carrots are a really important liver-friendly food and sneaking them into your diet means that you can benefit from their detoxifying properties.

Dinner: Tuna with Garlic Spinach and Potatoes

Snack: Carrot and Celery Sticks with Natural Peanut Butter

Friday:

Breakfast: Avocado Toast with Coffee or Green Tea Avocado toast is a really fun option for breakfast because you can tailor it to meet your taste. If you like to eat yoghurt, then add some yoghurt. If you like to eat specific types of fruit, then add some food.

Lunch: Cabbage Soup

Dinner: Spaghetti with Kale and Tomatoes

Snack: A Protein Smoothie with Coconut Milk, Walnuts and Fruit of your choice

Saturday:

Breakfast: Turmeric and Coconut Porridge with Water

Lunch: Kale and Chicken Soup

Dinner: Salmon and Asparagus Quiche If you enjoy a drink from time to time, you need to make sure that you are including asparagus in your diet.

Snack: Natural Yoghurt with Fruit, Nuts and Seeds

Sunday:

Breakfast: Spinach and Eggs on Toast with Peppermint Tea

Lunch: Artichoke, Celery and Broccoli Salad

Dinner: Herb and Cauliflower Rice Casserole One of the best ways to sneak some liver-friendly herbs into your diet is to make a casserole with cauliflower rice. You could add an array of different herbs and tailor this particular dish to meet your needs.

Snack: Raw Fruit

Remember that the health of your liver will naturally improve if you integrate some of the different foods and herbs that are present in this article into your diet.

You should try new recipes and find your own favourites because it is easier to sustain a new diet when you are eating food that you enjoy to eat.

Looking after your Liver It is really important that we look after our livers because looking after our livers means that we are also looking after our bodies as a whole.

Our livers are responsible for removing all of the toxins that are present in our blood, and we cannot afford for our livers to lose that function with the amount of environmental toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis.

Just adding a few new things to our diets can really improve the health of our livers.